In general, a magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus having a rotary type head drum such as a VCR is provided with a tape loading apparatus. The tape loading apparatus is designed to draw a portion of a magnetic tape out of a cassette loaded in the VCR and to run same in a predetermined path by moving pole base assemblies, which are respectively provided on a supply reel side and a take-up reel side so as to move along a curvilinear loading slot formed at a deck. While running through the predetermined path, the tape makes contact with a peripheral surface of the head drum, which is provided with at least one or more heads so as to record/reproduce signals onto/from the tape.
One of the prior art tape loading apparatuses is shown in FIG. 1. In the illustrated apparatus, the tape loading apparatus includes a motor 11 for loading a tape cassette 1 and a tape (not shown), a pair of pole base assemblies 12 which are, respectively, moved along a pair of loading slots 3 formed on a deck 2, for extracting the tape from the loaded tape cassette 1 and bringing it into contact with a head drum 4 of VCR, and a power conveying unit for transmitting a power from the motor 11 into the pole base assemblies 12. The power conveying unit includes a cam gear 21 driven by the motor 11 and having a cam groove 22, a relay arm 23 connected with the cam gear 21 by engaging one end thereof with the cam groove 22 and having a gear portion 24 at the other end thereof, a relay gear 25 connected with the relay arm 23 by engaging with the relay arm gear portion 24, a sliding plate 26 having a first gear portion 27 engaged with the relay gear 25 and a second gear portion 28, a pole base assembly driving gear 29 connected with the sliding plate 26 by an engagement with the second gear portion 28 of the sliding plate 26, and a pair of pole base assembly loading gears 30. The loading gears 30 are engaged with each other and one thereof is engaged with the driving gear 29. Further, each of the loading gears 30 is connected with its corresponding pole base assembly 12 via a link device 31.
The tape loading apparatus further includes a springs 32 (only one shown) which is interposed in each of the pole base assembly loading gears 30 so as to be biased toward the link device 31.
A tape is loaded by first actuating the motor 11. The power of the motor 11 is transmitted into one of the pole base assembly loading gears 30 via the relay arm 23, the relay gear 25, the sliding plate 26 and the pole base assembly driving gear 29, which, in turn, rotates the other pole base assembly loading gear 30. The rotation of the pole base assembly loading gears 30 allows the pole base assemblies 12 to extract the tape from the loaded tape cassette 1 and to bring it contact with the head drum 4 through the link devices 31. The spring 32 urges the link device 31 toward the loaded tape, thereby preventing the loaded tape from slackening.
One of the major shortcomings of the tape loading apparatus described above is that it is tricky and cumbersome to engage the spring between the pole base assembly loading gear and its corresponding link device, thereby making the assembly thereof difficult.